Going My Way (TV series)

Did You Know?

• A Variety review noted the show had potential due to its family appeal and co-stars, but described the plot as thin.
• The series was also broadcast in England, where Sponsor reported it was 'a smash in the London market' and rated in the top 10 programs there in 1963.
• John H. Breck, Inc. hoped the sponsorship would 'attract families, with large shares of women.'

Plot

Gene Kelly portrays Father Chuck O'Malley, a Roman Catholic priest assigned to St. Dominic's Parish in a lower-class area of New York City. Dick York plays Tom Colwell, Chuck's childhood friend who runs a secular neighborhood youth center. Leo G. Carroll co-stars as the elderly pastor Father Fitzgibbon, and Nydia Westman appears as rectory housekeeper Mrs. Featherstone. Episodes center on Father O'Malley's efforts to connect with parishioners and his relationship with Father Fitzgibbon.

Production

Going My Way aired Wednesdays from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time, competing with The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Virginian, and Kraft Television Theatre. Joe Connelly produced the series; directors included Joseph Pevney and Fielder Cook. Writers included Arnold Bernstein and Emmet Lavery. Revue Studios produced the program, as parent company MCA owned the film rights through its subsidiary EMKA, Ltd., which had purchased the film from Paramount Pictures in 1957. John H. Breck, Inc. sponsored the series to promote Breck Shampoos, spending $3.2 million for 50 weeks—double its previous year's TV advertising budget.